Growth Continues in Horace
New schools mean new infrastructure
West Fargo Public Schools is a school district located in the West Fargo area of North Dakota. The district continues to see increasing enrollment at a rate of 500 to 600 new students annually. This trend has been occurring for nearly a decade and is expected to continue through 2025. Following the recommendations of West Fargo Public Schools Long Range Facility Planning Task Force, the West Fargo School Board authorized the district to move forward with a $106.9 Million bond referendum. The referendum package included a new high school and new middle school among other district needs.
Horace, North Dakota, was chosen by West Fargo Public Schools as a location to construct a new middle school and high school campus. This location is on the south side of the district. The new middle school will be named Heritage Middle School and will be located at Sheyenne Street and 76th Avenue South. Heritage Middle school will be built to initially accommodate 900 students with the ability to expand to 1,200 students if necessary. The new high school will be named West Fargo Horace High School and will be built to accommodate 1,000 students with the ability to expand to 1,550 students if necessary.
The total projected cost of the West Fargo Horace High School and Heritage Middle School is $88.5 Million.
The site chosen by West Fargo Public Schools is currently an unimproved agricultural field with access from Cass County Hwy 17 and 76th Avenue. Cass County 17 is currently an asphalt surfaced rural county road. 76th Avenue is currently a gravel-surfaced rural section roadway.
West Fargo Public Schools requested several street and utility improvements from the City of Horace. The request included 76th Avenue improvements, 79th Avenue construction, 63rd Street construction, and 81st Avenue construction. 76th Avenue is on the north side of the school campus, 79th Avenue is in the middle of the campus site between the middle school and high school, 63rd Street in on the east side of the school campus, and 81st Avenue on the south side of the campus.
Interstate Engineering Team
Jim Dahlman, PE – Project Manager
Damon DeVillers, PE – Client Manager
Kent Thoreson, PLS – Project Engineer
Tim Pearson – Drafter
Shelley Terfehr – Drafter
Jeff Nording – Drafting
Rod Ceroll, PLS – Surveyor
Dawn Pehl – Administrative Assistant
Josh Myhra – Surveyor
Chris Loehr – Project Technician
Zach Hatting – Project Engineer
Jason Boucher – GIS
Paul Bervik, EI – Project Engineer
Thomas Herman – Project Engineer
SANITARY, STORM SEWER AND STREET IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT NO. 2019-1
(Lakeview Drive and 79th Avenue)
Lakeview Drive is currently an unimproved agricultural field, platted for future development. The project consists of sanitary sewer mains, water mains, fire hydrants, utility stub outs for future development, storm sewer, stormwater pond with lift station, concrete curb and gutter, concrete paving, and street lighting. The project is currently being bid and scheduled for construction in the summer of 2019 with a November 2, 2019 completion date. Interstate Engineering was directed by the City of Horace to provide preliminary, design, and construction engineering services.
Multiple agencies are involved in infrastructure planning throughout the project area. Cass Rural Water Users provide drinking water to the area. The City of Horace provides sanitary sewer service. The stormwater runoff from this project discharges into Legal Drain 27, a drain controlled by the Southeast Cass Water Resource District. Interagency coordination is critical for the success of this project.
STORM SEWER AND STREET IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT NO. 2019-2
(76th Avenue and Roundabout)
Cass County conducted a traffic impact study to determine improvements required for the intersection of Cass County Hwy 17 and 76th Avenue. Through this process, the City of Horace decided to construct a one and a half roundabout at the intersection. The east half of the roundabout will have two lanes: one turn lane and one straight/turn lane. The west half of the roundabout is designed to accommodate a full 2-lane roundabout in the future.
The Cass County Highway Department provided roadway design engineering services for the project with assistance from Interstate Engineering. Interstate Engineering provided design engineering services, including storm sewer, signing, pavement marking, erosion control, and lighting. The project was bid in March 2019 and awarded in April 2019 to the low bidder, Northern Improvement Company of Fargo, North Dakota, with a low bid of $5,012,473.20. The project is scheduled to be completed by November 2019.
STORM SEWER AND STREET IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT NO. 2019-3
(63rd Street)
63rd Street is currently an unimproved agricultural field and platted for future development. The project consists of water mains, fire hydrants, utility stub outs for future development, storm sewer, concrete curb and gutter, concrete paving, and street lighting. The project is currently being bid and scheduled for construction in the summer of 2019 with a November 2, 2019 completion date. Interstate Engineering was directed by the City of Horace to provide preliminary, design, and construction engineering services.
Much like the Lakeview Drive Project, multiple agencies are involved in infrastructure planning throughout the project area. Cass Rural Water Users provide drinking water to the area. The City of Horace provides sanitary sewer service. The stormwater runoff from this project discharges into Legal Drain 27, a drain controlled by the Southeast Cass Water Resource District. Interagency coordination is critical for the success of this project.
In addition to the street and utility projects, the Cass Rural Water Users are constructing a one million gallon elevated storage tank in the southeast corner of Lakeview Drive and 79th Avenue. This elevated storage tank is currently under construction and is scheduled for completion in June 2020, in time for the August 2020 Heritage Middle School opening. West Fargo Horace High School is scheduled to be open to students in August 2021.
